Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

The Bender v.4

It took every ounce of willpower inside of Theo not to fall asleep in the room with Viv. She managed to get up and get dressed. Viv was right there with her, getting dressed as fast as she could. Theo's leg shook a little as she balanced herself to try and put her other foot in her boot. It had been an exciting few hours and Theo did not know how she was going to begin to explain this to anyone.

"Shall we?" Viv asked as she finished getting dressed.

"Excuse me?" Theo laughed, "You're going out the window."

"Like fuck I am," Viv said, "I'm walking out that door."

Theo narrowed her eyes at Viv. They both knew Theo was fucked if Viv walked out of the room with Theo. Xyra would lose her shit. Theo also knew how stubborn Viv was. If she said she was going out the door, she was going out the door. Theo sighed dejectedly and walked out. If Viv decided to brave the belly of the beast then she could, Theo would not step in to help if things went south. Ripping Viv's heart out of her chest had been Xyra's goal for a while and Viv knew that. If that was the way the night went it would have been Viv's fault.

The building had cleared out significantly and Theo could only spot two people sitting in the section they had reserved. Looking around the room, she saw none of her crew. Viv was right behind her. Theo tried to avoid walking directly to the section, trying to shake Viv before arriving.

It was no use. Tuni had managed to spot them in the room and Theo gave up trying to hide and swerve. She walked over to their section and was grateful to see only Tuni and Cooker sitting there, Xyra nowhere in sight.

"Where are the rest?" Theo asked.

"At the inn crashing for the night, they got tired of waiting around," Tuni said and stood up, "I'm going back to the ship to spend the night with Mor. I'll see you in a few nights, Cap."

"Fortune," Viv acknowledged her.

"Vivexa," Tuni replied with a polite nod and walked away with another word.

Cooker, whose head had shot up when she heard the familiar voice, was a little warmer than Tuni was, "Viv. A pleasure to see you."

"I'm sure it is," she joked, "Nice to see you too, Cook. I'm liking the new tattoos."

Cooker smiled and touched her neck where she had begun the next expansion of her tattoos. Theo looked around the room and once again saw none of their crew.

"Why haven't you left to the inn? Waiting on someone?" Theo asked.

"Aye, you and Red," Cooker explained.

"Red? She's still here?" Theo looked around but couldn't find the girl.

Cooker pointed over to a room and Theo's eyebrows shot up. Ava was in a room with someone? Who allowed that to happen? Ava had the right to do anything she wanted but Theo also had the right to be worried, she reasoned. She was the captain and one of her soon to be crew members, who had no idea how Niveal or brothels worked, was in a room with someone alone.

"Who's Red and what's it about her that makes you so worried?" Viv asked

"None of your business, Viv," Theo snapped.

Viv made a mocking sound at Theo, "Looks like The Captain's got a little crush."

"I do not. She is new on my ship and I'm just worried about her safety," Theo defended, ignoring the second comment about her relationship with the new recruit, "you can either be helpful or leave."

Viv held her hands up, "Then I'll be leaving. Being helpful isn't within my abilities."

"How long has she been in there?" Theo asked once Viv was gone.